It’s all about planting the seeds – the kind you plant in the ground, the seeds of a new agricultural business, and the seeds of kindness that scatter to reach those in need of nourishing, fresh food.

Welcome to The Seed Farm, a nonprofit organization at 5854 Vera Cruz Road, Emmaus, that is an Agricultural Business Incubator as well as a Lehigh County Park open to the public.

As an Agricultural Business Incubator, The Seed Farm provides valuable, practical experience and skills to new farmers, plus the opportunity to launch sustainable farm businesses.

The farm also has its Farm to Pantry program, which relies heavily on volunteers to harvest produce for local food pantries. Farm to Pantry and Growing Partners, both food access programs, work with food pantries, mostly in Lehigh and Northampton counties.

As The Seed Farm is also a Lehigh County park, the public is welcome to enjoy it from dawn to dusk. “People are respectful of the farmland,” Katy Hunter, program manager of The Seed Farm, said. The public is invited to walk the paths, fish in the pond and bird-watch, all on a peaceful and beautiful slice of landscape.

Clearly, there’s a lot growing and going on at the farm, a program of Second Harvest Food Bank, the food access program of Community Action Lehigh Valley, an anti-poverty nonprofit.

“We’re a little piece of a big community of organizations and individuals who really care about our neighbors and that they have access to fresh produce,” Hunter said.

As its website states, The Seed Farm has been growing new farmers in the Lehigh Valley since 2010.

Discussing the launch of the Agricultural Business Incubator during a morning walk around the farm July 10, Hunter said there’s been a national conversation that the average age of a farmer is in his or her 50s – “not a great industry outlook.”

“Lehigh County cares a lot about its farmers. When you start a land based farm business, you need access to land and resources,” Hunter said, describing how the program was born.

Farmers in the incubator program are leased individual plots to grow their crops. They begin the process in late February by using the greenhouse to plant seeds. The barn is filled with equipment, tractors, hand tools, storage space and walk-in cooler space, all available to farmers. They use these resources to get the land ready, harvest and use the wash station to rinse, process, sort, grade and pack their product.

Farmers who run their businesses from The Seed Farm grow a variety of products, including dozens of varieties of vegetables, cut flowers, specialty herbs, and seeds of the African Diaspora. Farmers in the program now include two vegetable farmers, a cut flower producer and farmers concentrating on herbs and spices and seed production.

Farmers who run their businesses from The Seed Farm use a variety of direct-marketing to get their products to customers, from Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) or subscription-based sales, to farmers markets, e-commerce and pop-up events. Some of the farmers also sell products through small-scale wholesaling.

“We would love for the farmers to be able to regularly have their products available for sale on site at The Seed Farm and are working on completing a farm stand to open later this summer,” Hunter said.

“We provide the whole scope of what a farmer needs,” Hunter said. David Sell, farm manager, offers technical assistance and advice.

The Seed Farm also offers workshops for new and beginning farmers, such as two and four wheel tractor training in the fall. Workshops focused on the greenhouse and Irrigation 101 are offered in the spring, geared for specialty crop producers. Things slow down in the winter, when the farm offers a few training events.

“Most farmers here have other jobs, so they’re juggling busy schedules to fit it in,” Hunter said.

Hunter explained farmers may renew their lease for up to five years in the incubator program. “We hope to see them grow their business – most farmers want their own land.” The hope is farmers will have their finances in order and show they have a viable program when they go to the bank for a loan.

Hunter noted the incubator program is unique, as there is only one other agricultural business program in Pennsylvania, located in the Pittsburgh area.

Taryn Hipp of Bethlehem is in her first season with the incubator program. “I wouldn’t be able to do this without the program. I garden, but I wanted to farm,” Hipp said as she was busy stringing her tomatoes in what she has named, “The Gnar Garden,” a reference to gnarly and radical.

Hipp grows mostly vegetables, such as tomatoes, summer squash, eggplant, kale and peppers. Soon she’ll have onions and sugar snap peas. Hipp participates in the CSA Program as well as weekly participation in the Perkasie Farmers Market and monthly participation in the Saucon Valley Farmers’ Market and Phillipsburg (New Jersey) Farmers Market.

Hipp has the opportunity to expand into the half acre of land adjacent to her garden, with the goal of eventually transitioning on to her own land.

Hipp’s customers may pick up their orders at The Seed Farm Stand, and she gets the word out on what she will be bringing to the markets via her Instagram posts.

Hunter emphasized the need for volunteers to keep the wheels turning in the Food to Pantry program. Volunteers gather to harvest from 8 to 11 a.m. on Wednesdays from May through October, with Sell working with the volunteers to grow fresh produce for pantries.

“It’s great to have volunteers come through to get a taste of what it is to be a farmer,” Hunter said. “We love having volunteers come help and get outside with us to grow produce for our neighbors.”

Hunter said the pantries provide feedback on what produce they use and what they long for, like cherry tomatoes – “they’re delicious and kids love them.” They also need onions and garlic, which Hunter said are a staple in so many cultures.

“We try to be thoughtful that what we’re growing is relevant for lots of different cultures,” Hunter said. “We listen to the pantries.”

Hunter said they currently have two volunteers and are looking for a few more. Since volunteers gather on a weekday morning, it’s perfect for retirees and people with work schedules that differ from the typical 9 to 5. Sell does the work on the other days.

Groups from churches and offices are welcome to come for a day. “We recently had 31 people from a business in Emmaus come to harvest,” Hunter said.

Crops volunteers harvest include zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, sweet peppers, lettuce, garlic, onions and potatoes.

The Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative (WCHI) is one of the pantries involved this year in the Food to Pantry program.

“For the past two years, The Seed Farm has provided vegetable and herb plants and seeds for the WCHI’s Pantry Garden,” Gwen Herzog, pantry garden chair, said.

“The Seed Farm’s expert staff has introduced us to new planting methods, assisted us with growing new vegetables like potatoes and tomatillos, and taught us organic pest prevention and treatment methods. They are currently assisting us with installing a drip irrigation system,” Herzog said.

“In 2024, our Pantry Garden’s yield of over 900 pounds of vegetables and herbs were shared with the over 300 households who obtain food from our pantry each month,” Herzog said.

Herzog writes an article once a month in the Whitehall-Coplay Press that appears in the WCHI column by Shari Noctor, president of WCHI. Most, if not all, of Herzog’s articles mention The Seed Farm and their contributions and guidance.

The four pantries involved in Farm to Pantry this year are Allentown Ecumenical Food Bank; Raub Middle School Food Pantry, Allentown; Betty Lou’s Pantry, Coopersburg; and Zionsville Area Food Pantry.

Pantries involved in Growing Partners are East Side Pantry at Community Bike Works, Allentown; WCHI; Allentown Ecumenical Food Bank; Sixth Street Shelter, Allentown; and ProJect of Easton. Second Harvest Food Bank’s garden harvests go to several different food pantries.

Hannah White, greenhouse manager, provides technical support to gardens at food pantries through the Growing Partners program. The Freezer Ministry and Garden Gatherers, Inc., based at East Hills Moravian Church, was previously involved with Growing Partners, but this year the program is mainly working with pantries in Lehigh County.

White also provides support on site about once a month.

“We provide plants to other organizations that have food access programs,” Hunter said. For example, they grew plants needed by Burnside Plantation, which in turn donated most of them to New Bethany.

The Seed Farm also tries to stay connected to Plant A Row Lehigh Valley. “They’re a great organization. They encourage the production of fresh produce locally and get it to the people who need it,” Hunter said. “We try to support organizations that do this.”

The Seed Farm will have a Farm-to-table Brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 18. Tickets will be available through The Seed Farm’s website at theseedfarm.org/. All proceeds benefit The Seed Farm’s programs.

During the annual Spring Plant Sale, gardeners come to The Seed Farm to source a wide variety of organically grown vegetable, herb, flower, and native plant transplants. “After making it through the winter, people are always eager to work in their gardens and get things growing,” Hunter said.

“A lot of people plant warm season varieties, like tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers, but don’t realize that there are lots of delicious vegetables that prefer growing in cool weather,” Hunter said. “With The Seed Farm’s Fall Plant Sale, we make seasonally appropriate, cold and frost tolerant plants available to home gardeners so they can extend harvests of fresh foods from their gardens into November.

“We encourage people to grow produce on all levels,” Hunter said, noting in addition to farmers, “We work with community gardeners and home gardeners.

“It’s hard times for people – we see that at the food banks,” Hunter said. “We just do the best we can to look out for one another.”

Food donations may be delivered to Second Harvest Food Bank, Nazareth, during business hours. Monetary donations are accepted by The Seed Farm form-renderer-app.donorperfect.io/give/community-action-committee-of-the-lehigh-valley/the-seed-farm-donation-form and Second Harvest Food Bank form-renderer-app.donorperfect.io/give/community-action-committee-of-the-lehigh-valley/shfb-donation-form.

For information on registering a group and other questions, contact Second Harvest Food Bank’s volunteer coordinator at shfbvolunteer@caclv.org.